Gators get physical play in bowl victory

After calling his team soft, UF coach Will Muschamp saw some physical play in the Gator Bowl win

January 3, 2012|By Rachel George, Orlando Sentinel

JACKSONVILLE — After calling his team soft in November, it's unlikely Florida coach Will Muschamp had to dip into a motivational bag of tricks for the bowl game. With a team that had been pushed around on the line of scrimmage for much of the season, the December practices became a challenge of toughness.

Instead of hammering home the assessment he made of his team after a 6-6 regular season, he used an old stereotype in the weeks leading up to Florida's Gator Bowl win over Ohio State on Monday. The Big Ten has more physical, strong players, he told them. The SEC, and Florida by extension, only has speed.

To players who had listened to their coach question their toughness throughout the season, it became a challenge. The result was a physical game moved the program in the direction of having a blue-collar, physical team.

It took another step on Tuesday in hiring Jeff Dillman as the director of strength and conditioning. Dillman comes to Florida from IMG Performance Institute in Bradenton, where he was the head of physical conditioning for the past three years.

Muschamp coached with Dillman at LSU, with the program winning a national title in 2003 while they were there. Dillman was the director of strength and conditioning at Appalachian State, his alma mater, when it won national championships in 2006 and 2007.

Muschamp expressed confidence that Dillman will instill that blue-collar approach. Still, Muschamp was encouraged by the Gators' play on Monday.

"I've said it before and I mean this sincerely, we're not building a team," said Muschamp. "We're building a program. And that takes a foundation to start. It really does."

In the 24-17 win, the Gators (7-6) put together their best past rush of the season. Florida had six sacks and 12 tackles for a loss, both season highs, and effectively contained Ohio State's mobile quarterback, Braxton Miller.

While the Buckeyes (6-7) had one passing touchdown – from Miller to DeVier Posey – they finished with 162 passing yards, less than the average 167.25 that UF's 10th-ranked passing defense has given up this season. That included 82 yards on the Buckeyes' final drive with Florida ahead by 14. The Buckeyes had two passing plays of more than 20 yards.

Ranked second in the country in third-down defense, the Gators allowed the Buckeyes to convert just 2-of-10 chances. Against an OSU offensive line that averages at 6-foot-6, 308 pounds per lineman, the Gators were pleased with their play up front.

On offense, Florida didn't give up a sack. It was only the fourth time this season the Gators didn't allow the quarterbacks to be sacked and only the second time since Sept. 10 they've done that.

Despite the Gators' 132 rushing yards, senior running back Chris Rainey said he felt the run game was tougher than it had been. That output was only their eighth best of the season, but the third best since September.

In the locker room after the game, Muschamp told his young players to remember this season and its ups and downs. The team's nine scholarship seniors left on a high note, and, Muschamp hopes, started to lay the foundation for the tough type of program he wants to run.

"We go to bowl practice and we flat out teed it up in scrimmage and got after it," Muschamp said. "A lot of times in a 6-6 football team they don't really want to do that. Not a senior blinked. They all went after it. They all practiced. Those are the things to me that are very promising as we move forward."